Sunday, March 22, 1998Last modified at 3:33 a.m. on Sunday, March 22, 1998

For many, luck fails to pay off

Millions in winnings unredeemed in lottery

AUSTIN (AP) - Millions of instant Texas Lottery winners have become unlucky losers. Since former Gov. Ann Richards scratched the first instant ticket in 1992, players in Texas have spent billions on - and won billions from - such games.

This year, the total number of instant lottery tickets sold since 1992 topped 8 billion, giving the state more that $10 billion in revenue from the 129 scratch-off games the lottery has offered.

But whether because of confusion, lost tickets or other reasons, more than 31 million instant-ticket prizes worth nearly $80 million have never been redeemed. And the time for collecting those prizes has expired.

By the end of the month, unclaimed prizes in three more games no longer will be available to unlucky winners who have not claimed them.

"You just don't know what number ended up left in their pocket and in the washing machine," said Toni Smith, head of the lottery's instant-ticket division.

"You don't know how many end up in the garbage. People put tickets in the back of a drawer or in the ashtray and forget about them," she said.

Among winning tickets that no longer can redeemed, prizes ranged in value from $100,000 - one ticket in 1993's "Win for Life" game - down to $1, millions of tickets in all.

The vast majority of unclaimed prizes were among the lowest offered.

Ms. Smith and other lottery officials noted that unclaimed prizes are reinvested into the pots for other games. But that could be little solace for the winners who somehow missed their cash the first time around.

According to lottery records The Associated Press reviewed:

60 instant games no longer are sold and prizes offered in those games no longer can be claimed.

16 other games no longer are being sold and the 180-day clock for collecting prizes from those games is ticking.

13 more games are scheduled to be taken off store counters and their claims periods closed by the end of the year.

Ms. Smith said there's no way to be certain of why the winning tickets went unclaimed, adding that players of the same games collected $3.3 billion from 1 billion winning tickets.

A small portion of the unclaimed prizes might never have been sold, Ms. Smith said.

Using sales trends and other information, Ms. Smith periodically schedules games - and their collection times - to end.

Most of the time, at least 95 percent of a closed-out game's tickets have been sold by the time they are pulled off store counters, she said.

But some prize-winners could be among the few tickets returned to the lottery, she added.

Lottery security officials account for every ticket in a closed game and destroy the unsold tickets. They do not try to determine the number or value of prizes among those destroyed.

Ms. Smith said she knows that confusion about the games, their symbols and how they are played is not a primary reason for unclaimed prizes.

"Players will call in" if they're unsure about a game, she said. "They are pretty vocal. We'll hear it."

Eliana Villarreal, a regular scratch-off player at Lucky's Food Mart in San Antonio, said she's never been confused about a game. She also said she's also never misplaced or damaged winning tickets.

"I've lost money because I play more than I win. But when I win, I return right away," Ms. Villarreal said.

Lottery Director Linda Cloud said she's not too concerned about the number of unclaimed prizes, emphasizing that players claimed more than nine out of 10 prizes offered in the games no longer being played or redeemed.

Ms. Cloud said she believes some unclaimed prizes also may have been won by out-of-state players who forget or decide not to mail winning tickets back to Texas to claim small prizes.

"I can't play in Texas, but I have bought tickets in other states and never bothered to return them," she said.

Ms. Cloud added that if players aren't sure whether they are instant winners, they can ask retailers to scan their tickets.